Tomb of the Giants

Tip: This area will be easier if you have a light source, such as a Skull Lantern, the Sunlight Maggot, or the Light spell. You may also want to bring a Divine weapon for part of the boss battle.

Slowly follow the lighted dots on the ground. You will slide down a few cenotaph lids and will encounter three Giant Skeletons on the way. The Giant Skeletons will be hiding in the dark; advance cautiously. Each can be fought individually.

After the final ramp slide, you will see a blue dot ahead with a man standing nearby. Instead of speaking to them, turn left from the bottom of the ramp and examine the cliff's edge to find a ladder. Follow that down to the first Bonfire in this area. This bonfire is the warp point for Tomb of the Giants, so if you need to head out and come back, this is where you'll start.

(Tip: You're about to encounter Rhea,the lady with the clerics you may have seen near Petrus at the Firelink shrine. Her story can go several ways depending on your actions involving her and Patches, so if you're on NG+ or just want to spoil yourself, read up, and make your choices accordingly.)

(Tip: If you die in this region and wish to go back to the Pit, you don't have to throw yourself down! Climb the ladder from the first bonfire and head immediately to the right. Follow along the small ledge until just before a pile of bones, then strike the left wall to open up a hidden passage leading down to the Pit. The passage remains open after death.)

Climb back up the bonfire ladder and speak to the NPC. This is Patches, a thoroughly disreputable man. He will ask if you're a Cleric. (Patches hates Clerics, so consider your answer carefully. If you say Yes, you will have to fight him later; if you say No, you will be able to turn Patches into a Merchant. He primarily sells Cleric gear, but also sells humanities and other goods.)

Patches will help you down - by delivering his foot to your rump. You will fall during a cutscene and will take no damage from the transition.

After the cutscene, loot the three corpses for 2x Large Soul of a Proud Knight and a Skull Lantern. (The Lantern can be used as a light source in your shield slot, if you have no other means available. You must hold it out like you were blocking to activate the light.)

Face out to the chasm, then turn to your right and follow the wall. You will encounter Rhea sitting by a pillar. Rhea will warn you that her escort was Hollowed and lurks nearby. Proceed along the wall to find a tunnel entrance, where you will be attacked by two Hollows - Vince and Nico. Both are shielded clerics, and at least one of them can cast healing miracles, so prepare to be aggressive to prevent healing.

When both are dead, return to Rhea and talk to her agan. She will give you the Replenishment miracle, which restores HP over time.

Come back to the Chasm and this time head left. Follow the wall around until you find a ramp. This will lead up to a corpse with a White Titanite Chunk. Take care, as when you loot the corpse you will introduce four Bone Tower enemies to the Pit beneath you. Come down the ramp slowly and try to engage them one at a time. Bone Towers take a moment to spin up and then flail their arms at you, but their range is relatively short. They can also fall on you, but overall should pose little danger. Note that Bone Towers can also drop White Titanite Chunks, so you may want to put on your best Item Find gear before engaging.

With the Pit cleared out, head back towards Rhea, then up the tunnel where you found Vince and Nico. Towards the end are three more Bone Towers to slay. Beyond them is a ladder leading up.

The ladder leads to a cave with a dead end. Strike the wall to open a hidden passage.

Turn right at the end of the hidden passage and follow the ledge back to the Bonfire ladder. Ignore Patches for now. You may want to spend as many souls as you can, as this next part is quite dangerous.

Turn left from the top of the hidden passage. You'll soon see a square hole in the ground with a ladder down. Descend quickly, as you'll be under fire from Giant Skeleton Archers nearby.

When you hit the bottom, freeze! You're now above a chamber holding SIX Giant Skeletons. These all move fast, all swing two-handed swords, and all of their swords can cause Bleeding. If you rush this room, you will die.

For fighting options, pure melee will have the most difficult time; one recommendation is to drop gently into the gap opposite the ladder, immediately put your back to the wall, and raise your shield. If done well you will only engage two or three of the six Giant Skeletons at once. Kill them and heal, then move gently into the room, advancing slowly. The other Giant Skeletons in the room can be peeled individually.

For suicide options, you can sprint and jump across the gap opposite the ladder. This will put you above the fray on the walls of the arena. You can roam around up here, then drop down on to loot below, snatch it up, and die. Come back from the Bonfire ladder and repeat until you have all the gear.

No matter how you handle the Giant Skeletons, there will be a corpse at the front of the room holding a Soul of a Brave Warrior, and a petrified blacksmith at the back of the room holding the Large Divine Ember. (This item is given to Andre of Astoria in Undead Parish, and allows Divine weapons to ascend beyond +5.)

With the Ember acquired, head up the ladder from the arena, back to the ledge, then turn right and go up the large ramp. At the top you will find a Giant Skeleton and a Giant Skeleton Archer (and you'll be under fire from a second, unreachable Giant Skeleton Archer, too). Dispatch these two and climb the ladder. You'll pass a corpse with an item on the way; leave it for now.

At the top of the ladder is a landing with two more Giant Skeletons on it. These can be pulled individually. Clear them, then find the alcove on the left-side wall. Climb the ladder there, follow the path, and climb the next ladder to get above the landing.

From up here, climb the dirt ramp you see to find a corpse with a Large Soul of a Proud Knight. Head back down the ramp to the ledges above the platform; in the corner farthest from the ladders you will be above another corpse with an item. Drop down to it for 3x Eye of Death. From here head back to the platform ladder. On the left, lying on the edge, will be a corpse with another Large Soul of a Proud Knight. Collect that, then decide if you want one more - you can drop off the right side of the ladder (facing it) to reach the corpse you passed on the way up, and you can collect one more Soul of a Proud Knight, but the only way off the corpse-ledge is to drop. The fall will cause damage unless you have a way to mitigate that (Fall Control).

With the platform cleared and items collected, it's time to deal with Patches.

Speak to Patches again. If you had previously said you were a Cleric he will now attack you. Fight him and kill him for 2,000 souls; loot his corpse for 4x Humanity and a Crescent Axe. (Tip: If you said Yes to being a Cleric, but still want him as a vendor, do not speak to him here! He will eventually make it back to Firelink Shrine as a neutral NPC.)

If you said you were not a Cleric, Patches will apologize profusely. He will then ask your forgiveness. If you say Yes, Patches will thank you and will become a vendor later. If you say No, Patches will give you a Twin Humanities and will still become a vendor later.

With this dilemma solved, proceed slowly towards the White Gate. You will encounter a Beast Skeleton on your way. Slay that, then Traverse the White Light.

Immediately raise your shield; you'll be under fire from a Giant Skeleton Archer to the left, and advancing will draw out a Black Knight (Halberd).

Back up through the White Gate archway and handle the Black Knight. He will drop a White Titanite Chunk when killed.

Head back through the White Gate. Put your shield up to handle arrows and start circling to your left. You will be going around the "donut hole", a ramp in the middle of a circular platform. You will encounter a Beast Skeleton; deal with that, and move on to the Giant Skeleton Archer behind him. Keep moving around the donut hole and take down a second Beast Skeleton.

Go back to where the Skeleton Archer was and loot the corpse for the Soul of a Brave Warrior.

From here, head down the ramp in the middle of the donut hole. At the bottom will be twin arches to your left, and a path to your right. Follow the path right to it's end, but be warned - if you didn't kill the Black Knight, he'll be waiting down here on this narrow ledge. At the end you'll find a corpse with the Effigy Shield (Occult modifier, high Lightning resist). Come back down the path and go through the twin arches. Turn right and you'll find a ramp leading down. This goes to a landing with a Beast Skeleton and a Giant Skeleton. From the landing, if you hang an immediate left and hug the wall, you will find the second Bonfire.

Hit the bonfire, then clear the Beast Skeleton and Giant Skeleton again. Head back up the donut ramp and clear the two Beast Skeletons as well as the Giant Archer. From the Giant Archer's position, if you roll off the ledge right through the corpse, you will land on a narrow platform below. This has a short path leading to a corpse with the Covetous Silver Serpent Ring, a lovely item that boosts your soul acquisition rate. As soon as you touch the corpse, even if you don't loot it, five Bone Towers will spawn. Retreat down the path and set up shop to do battle. Clear them out and the item is yours. Take a look at the corners of the platform with the ring; one of them will have a very narrow edge separating you from safety. You can run partway up the wall and roll to clear this - it will put you at the bottom of the ramp below the twin arches, back on the platform leading to the bonfire.

Head back towards the second bonfire. You will find a ramp down on your right side. This leads to a lower landing. On your right will be an alcove with a corpse holding a White Titanite Chunk. Loot it, then follow the path. You'll encounter three Beast Skeletons in a row. Take care when engaging to pull them one at a time. (And if you used the bonfire, take extra care, because you'll link the respawned Beast Skeleton above you!)

The three Beast landing has a ramp at the back right corner that's hard to see. Follow it down, then do a 180 at the bottom for a path that leads to the Soul of a Brave Warrior. Turn around again and follow the path to another short ramp down. This leads to a ladder.

Take the ladder down and follow the ramp downward along the ledge. If you are human at this point, and have not killed the area boss, you will be invaded by Paladin Leeroy. This Black Phantom will attack on the ledge; feel free to retreat back upwards to make the fight a bit safer. If Leeroy dies by falling off, you can save and reload to acquire his loot. Leeroy will drop two Humanity, Grant (an enormous mace with a Divine modifier), and Sanctus (a shield with HP regeneration).

Continue on the path to find a cave on the right - rush in and lock fast to kill a Crystal Lizard. Proceed through the cave and you'll see a stalagmite. To it's left is a ledge you can follow, but take care - two Bone Towers will spawn along the way. When you clear the second Bone Tower, turn around; a third will have spawned behind you. Clear that too. Back down the path you'll come under fire from a Giant Skeleton Archer and see a fourth Bone Tower standing in front of it. This is a sort of trap; when you advance, the Bone Tower will duck underground, luring you to deal with the Archer.. but to it's left is a Giant Skeleton waiting to kick you off the ledge. The simplest way to deal with this is to keep your shield up and run forward, roll between the two Giant Skeleton enemies, and set up shop in the mouth of the next tunnel. Proceed with care, handle the Giant Skeleton and the Giant Skeleton Archer, then take out the Bone Tower (now approaching from behind where you were on the path).

Warning - The large cavern beyond this point has multiple Pinwheel demons and has some pre-spawned Baby Skeletons. The Baby Skeletons can cause Toxic damage and they will swarm you if given a chance. The Pinwheel demons will throw ranged fire magic. They have a slow cast time and can be engaged at range with a good bow. Bow shots interrupt their casting, as well.

At the bottom of the starting ramps is water; touching the water will spawn Baby Skeletons. They will spawn every time you touch the water in this cavern and cannot be stopped from respawning even with the use of Divine weapons. (Tip: This makes them farmable. Their soul count is low, but they can drop Humanity, so you may want to strap up some anti-poison armor, a weapon with some reach, and your favorite +Item Find gear.)

You may wish to stand on the ledge with the skeletons at the entrance and pick off as many as you can. Up to three can be engaged from the starting platform. A fourth can be engaged after the ramp makes it's second turn downwards (third section). A fifth Pinwheel is hiding at the bottom of a ramp, standing in water, at the back of the room - you will have to explore to reach him, but keep him in mind while exploring the room. You can reach him by heading down the first two ramps, looking left, and finding a ledge you can walk to. Following the path to a platform that has a ramp down in the middle. Clear Pinwheel 5, then head back to the start of the room. You'll have to run through water and up the ramp to get there, so take care to stop and clear the six or so Baby Skeletons that will be chasing you.

Clear the items in this room. From the entrance, head down the first two ramps, but before proceeding further to the water, look left. You'll see a ledge you can safely reach. Run to that and follow the left wall. When you see a cave on your left, roll in - the corpse at the back has a White Titanite Slab. Turn around and run to the edge; you'll fall out in the water above where Pinwheel 5 was. There's a corpse with a White Titanite Chunk hiding behind some rocks at the bottom of the ramp. Grab that and hit the ramp fast, then deal with the Baby Skeleton Army following you. Follow the ramps up from here to the top and you'll find a corpse with a Soul of a Hero. Clear out the skeletal remains at the top and you'll expose a White Gate leading to the boss of this area - Gravelord Nito.

If you brought your Divine weapon, here's the place to equip it. Start the fight by Traversing the White Light, healing to full, and dropping down to the boss arena. This will trigger a cutscene. (Tip: The first time you come here the fall is no-damage, but all future trips will hurt - even though the cutscene plays every time.)

If needed, heal to full, and start moving into the arena. This a circular room with rocks in the middle. Gravelord Nito will approach from the left, and he won't be alone - he'll bring small Skeletons with him. If you advance too deep into this room you'll wind up triggering Giant Skeletons as well, which makes the fight entirely too complicated. All Skeletons, Giant and otherwise, will respawn infinitely unless killed with a Divine weapon - so your first order of business is to kill the few small Skeletons approaching you while you first engage the Gravelord. Remember that all Skeletons can cause Bleed.

All of Gravelord Nito's attacks can cause Toxic. Be careful about eating too many un-blocked hits.

Attacks include:

The Spike - This is an attack Nito uses at long range. He will announce it with a scream. This leads to a spike shooting out of the ground; the spike cannot be blocked and might not be avoidable. Try to stay reasonably close to Nito to avoid that ranged attack going off.

Soul Explosion - Nito will charge up, giving you time to block. This is likely magic damage so a high magic resist shield would be preferable. You will take some damage when you block, but far less than if you'd not guarded. This blast can destroy Nito's Skeletons, too - but they'll respawn as his attack is not Divine.

Overhand Cleave - you can dodge this by being close and sticking to the right side of Nito (opposite where that giant weapon is).

Swipe - Nito charges forward and swipes with his left hand. This can be dodged by rolling left (sword-side) and opens his back for attacks. Nito will rear his hand back before using this.

Backhand - Nito swings his blade in a horizontal backhand. You can dodge this by rolling while close.

Stab - Nito will stab as though he were a Tonberry. Dodge this by rolling to his hand-side while close.

The best approach is to use your Divine weapon to drop the Skeletons, then engage the Gravelord close-up to give you the most options for dodging his weapon. Unload on him between attacks but always keep some Stamina in reserve in case he starts charging Soul Blast.

Killing Nito will reward you with a Lord Soul and a Humanity. All area Skeletons and Giant Skeletons will be gone after he has been killed.

If you killed Paladin Leeroy before fighting Gravelord Nito, search the area for an alcove with the Paladin Armor set inside. This will only appear if Leeroy was fought earlier in the zone - skipping him takes away this item drop.